WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-N.J. District 7) is pushing the IRS to allow New Jersey residents who paid their 2018 property taxes in 2017 to deduct their payments from their federal income taxes.

Lance and fellow New Jersey Congressman Josh Gottheimer (D-District 5) met Thursday with Acting IRS Commissioner David J. Kautter to urge that the deduction should be expanded to include all 2018 property taxes paid in 2017, regardless of the date of assessment.

The tax bill signed into law by President Donald Trump at the end of 2017 placed a $10,000 limit on how much property taxes can be deducted. Before the new law went into effect Jan. 1, New Jersey residents, who pay some of the highest property taxes in the country, rushed to play their 2018 taxes in hope of preserving their deductibility.

Property owners in Lance's district, which extends the width of Central Jersey, made $300 million in property tax prepayments in late 2017, the congressman said.

But the IRS ruled that it would allow the deduction of 2018 property taxes paid in 2017 only if the property taxes had been assessed in 2017.

"Our meeting was productive," Lance said. "I will continue to make the case that all 2018 property tax prepayments be fully deductible on 2017 tax returns. These payments were made in good faith and some payments were made before the IRS issued its unfair ruling."

Earlier this year, Lance wrote to Kautter and asked the IRS to reconsider its ruling. Lance has also introduced legislation to expand the deduction to all 2018 taxes regardless of the date of assessment.

“I will continue to seek either a bipartisan legislative solution or an IRS ruling fixing this problem," Lance said. "I thank Commissioner Kautter for his time and interest. I will continue to press the issue in Congress and with the IRS."

On Thursday, the New Jersey State Assembly passed a resolution urging Congress to take action to preserve the deduction.

Lance has also written Gov. Phil Murphy, urging that the state lift its $10,000 cap on property tax deductions on state income taxes.